Education Redefined: Why Entrepreneur Andrew Phillips, MD, MEd, Built EM Coach for Professionals in Emergency Medicine | Episode 18 of Twist of Fate 

Andrew Phillips on Episode 18 of Twist of Fate was an important guest for host Douglas Younger III. Not only is his wife a doctor, but he’s also incredibly grateful to the frontline workers who save lives every single day (pandemic or not). Dr. Phillips discussed his history with entrepreneurship and why he created a platform for emergency professionals that went several steps beyond anything else on the market. 

Always Learning 

Learning is at the heart of every career. The idea of constant study is one that emergency physicians are accustomed to, but it’s really a mindset that all professionals need to adopt. Whether you’re an intern or a CEO, your industry is always changing because life is always changing. Upgrading your skills and looking to the horizon is always the right approach. 

For physicians, the study is calibrated. You’re expected to hit certain milestones. You’re required to pass certain tests. Those tests are the gateway to your future. Low scores are both an emotional and financial fiasco. People with low scores have to invest more time and money in their career. It may mean they’re rejected from a specific program. A doctor may have to go to the Caribbean to finish school — the stakes are high.

Board certifications mean that doctors have to constantly hone their study skills, which can feel counterintuitive when you consider just how much studying they had to do to make it as far as they did. (When Dr. Phillips thinks about his official status, he considers himself more as a PGY-11 than a board-certified MD.) Dr. Phillips took it upon himself to make a product that would give EM professionals a shortcut to get the scores they want. More than that, he wants to help people be better at their job. 

An Inner Circle of Trust 

With professional and personal lives, we all need to have an inner circle that we can truly count on. These are people that have proven, time and time again, that they have the group’s interests at heart and not just their own. Dr. Phillips of EM Coach discussed how he leaned on his wife, especially at the beginning, to get EM Coach off the ground. Younger talked about his own wife and her never-ending support of his aspirations. 

This is a tricky subject for many entrepreneurs, particularly when you consider that divorce rates are high in the US and a person’s true character may take some time to emerge. However, Younger points out that while there’s always a risk, you’re usually better off trusting those around you than guarding all of your secrets to yourself. Phillips admits that he knew the medicine part of it , but when it came to technology, organization, updates, etc, he had to know where his weak spots were so he could fill in the gaps. Whether a startup owner is married or not, they should have someone who can provide a different point of view on some of the toughest problems. 

EM Coach has been ramping up as of late. For every new lecture posted or question added, Dr. Phillips is balancing his startup work with erratic ER schedules. (To top that off, he’s also the father to a young child.) And while there’s no doubt he has a lot on his plate, he’s committed to helping physicians fear the tests a little less so they can focus on saving lives. His to-do list may sound familiar to an entrepreneur, but Phillips and Younger both agree that they wouldn’t have it any other way. 

‍

‍